Written Trips
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Abandoning All Sense of Time on a Felucca in Aswan, Egypt
Breathing life into the barren desert of Egypt, the River Nile has a profoundly spiritual significance. Sail from Aswan to Edfu on a traditional Egyptian felucca, and your life merges with that of the…
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Bearing Witness to Colossal Illusions of Grandeur in Luxor, Egypt
Old stones are dime a dozen in Egypt, and the West Bank of Luxor is littered with the remnants of ages past. Yet few monuments resonate with as much bathos as the Ramesseum: mortuary…
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Being Charmed by Place Djemaa el Fna in Marrakech, Morocco
The name Place Djemaa el Fna can be translated as “assembly of the dead,” but in reality the square is the beating heart of a genuinely exotic Marrakech. Tourists and locals alike jostle for…
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Careering Over the Dunes of the Egyptian Sand Sea in Siwa
This is proper ‘Primary School’ desert, nothing but sand as far as the eye can see. Monumental dunes swell upwards and roll towards infinity, their sharp peaks swirling in the wind. Your jeep teeters…
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Commiserating With Headless Statues at Salamis, Cyprus
From its semi-mythical foundation around the 12th century BC, until the Arab invasion of the 7th century AD, Salamis was one of the pre-eminent Cypriot cities. Rediscovered in the 1950s, and still only partially…
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Communing With Crusaders in Krak des Chevaliers, Syria
If you’ve ever wondered what a fairytale castle looks like, then come to Krak des Chevaliers. Built by the Crusaders over 800 years ago, and never breached in combat, the castle continues to spit…
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Counting Shipwrecked Almonds in Kyrenia Castle, Cyprus
Kyrenia Castle, which looks down on the harbour, is a sort of architectural Russian doll: modified and extended outwards by successive Byzantine, French, and Venetian rulers, it’s a stolid Escher world of towers, tunnels,…
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Counting the Body Parts in Medinet Habu, Egypt
The building blocks of Medinet Habu seem to be the petrified insecurities of Ramesses III. Not only was he competing with the memory of his more powerful, more virile, and almost-certainly-better-looking namesake (Ramesses II),…
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Discussing Everything and Nothing in al-Horreya, Cairo
Al-Horreya, in Downtown Cairo, is not your average coffee shop. Granted, it does have peeling, vomit-coloured walls, rude serving staff, and a floor so encrusted with the detritus of revelry that every sticky footstep…
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Drinking in the History of al-Fishawy Coffee Shop in Cairo
For over 200 years, al-Fishawy coffee shop has been serving mint tea and shisha pipes to the haggle-happy vendors and shoppers of Khan al-Khalili bazaar. Artists and writers—such as Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfouz—would also…
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Enjoying a Pollution-Enhanced Sunset in al-Azhar Park, Cairo
Despite being built over the top of an old rubbish tip, al-Azhar Park is far and away the most romantic green space in Cairo. Not least because you can gaze into your lover’s eyes…
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Escaping the Singing Camels of Khan al-Khalili, Egypt
For over 500 years, Khan al-Khalili has been the beating heart of commerce in Islamic Cairo. Nowadays, the lifeblood of the capillary-like maze of alleyways is tourism, and the wily vendors all hold black-belts…